The present application relates to compiling and reporting data associated with activity on a network server and more particularly to compiling and reporting server data that is associated with commercial activity on a server. This application is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Patent 60/163,710 filed Nov. 5, 1999 whose contents are incorporated herein for all purposes.
Programs for analyzing traffic on a network server, such as a worldwide web server, are known in the art. One such prior art program is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/240,208, filed Jan. 29, 1999, for a Method and Apparatus for Evaluating Visitors to a Web Server, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. WebTrends Corporation owns this application and also owns the present provisional application. In these prior art systems, the program typically runs on the web server that is being monitored. Data is compiled, and reports are generated on demand—or are delivered from time to time via email—to display information about web server activity, such as the most popular page by number of visits, peak hours of website activity, most popular entry page, etc.
Analyzing activity on a worldwide web server from a different location on a global computer network (“Internet”) is also known in the art. To do so, a provider of remote web-site activity analysis (“service provider”) generates JavaScript code that is distributed to each subscriber to the service. The subscriber copies the code into each web-site page that is to be monitored. When a visitor to the subscriber's web site loads one of the web-site pages into his or her computer, the JavaScript code collects information, including time of day, visitor domain, page visited, etc. The code then calls a server operated by the service provider—also located on the Internet—and transmits the collected information thereto as a URL parameter value. Information is also transmitted in a known manner via a cookie. Each subscriber has a password to access a page on the service provider's server. This page includes a set of tables that summarize, in real time, activity on the customer's web site.
The above-described arrangement for monitoring web server activity by a service provider over the Internet is generally known in the art. Information analyzed in prior art systems, however, consists of what might be thought of as technical data, such as most popular pages, referring URLs, total number of visitors, returning visitors, etc. However, the need still remains for a way to track and report commercial activity on the web site—a feature missing in prior art web commerce analysis tools.